In a disappointing day both Muddies senior teams lost their respective semi-final clashes played at Ballymore on Saturday.
In what turned out to be their last game, the first grade team came up against Caboolture, who had ended the season top of the table.
The Caboolture team was fresh from having a week off whereas some of the Muddies boys were being held together with strapping tape after a long season.
With both sun and pouring rain to contend with, Caboolture based their play around their scrum half who dictated their play and soon had their backs running at pace at the Muddies defensive line.
While they managed to breach the line on a number of occasions the Muddies’ scrambling defence was up to the task and repelled attack after attack. However as the game wore on Caboolture was able to bring on fresh impact players and the Muddies could no longer hold on.
The normally solid set piece was put under pressure and a number of line-outs were lost, which further gave the Caboolture back line forward momentum. On the day the Caboolture team was the better one and ran out winners 34-7.
The second grade team played Wynnum in a tough, even contest. With some Muddies playing out of their customary positions due to a number of players being unavailable, the task at hand was going to be tougher than normal but the team stuck to the task right to the final whistle, unfortunately going down 29-15.
Coach Mike King, while disappointed with the day’s results, heaped praise on the two teams who held the Muddies name high throughout the season. This sentiment was echoed by club president Keith Taylor, who congratulated the boys on what has been the best year ever for the club with two men’s teams making it to the semi-finals and the ladies contesting their own semi.
Planning for the 2017 season will start in the next couple of weeks and it is anticipated that pre-season training will start in late January 2017. Any new players are urged to express their interest with Mike King on 0413 434 800 so they can be kept informed as to dates.